Home Furnishings Chain Ethan Allen Locks Down Space at 915 Bway
By Lauren Elkies Schram November 4, 2015 12:00 pm
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Ethan Allen has sealed a deal for 12,790 square feet at 915 Broadway, becoming the anchor retail tenant for the Midtown South building, Commercial Observer has learned.
The new lease is for 11 years with an asking rent of $2.3 million a year, or $198 per square foot blended between the mezzanine and ground levels, according to John Brod of ABS Partners Real Estate who along with brokers Mark Tergesen, Alex Kaskel and Robert Kempner represented the landlord, which is a group of investors including executives from ABS.
The contemporary home furnishings retailer is slated to open a gallery-style store at the West 21st Street building in the spring or summer of 2016. The lease spans 7,831 square feet at grade, 3,795 square feet on the mezzanine and 1,164 square feet on the lower level.
“Ethan Allen approached me directly on the space. They sought us out [as the landlord] representative,” Mr. Brod said. “They wanted that space because when you look at it architecturally it’s a magnificent piece of real estate. It really fits the profile of their brand.”
Pedestrian traffic has increased along Broadway in Midtown South. According to an ABS study from about a year and a half ago, the foot traffic on Broadway and West 21st Street was 24 percent higher on the weekends than the traffic on Fifth Avenue and East 21st Street. On weekdays, the Broadway and West 21st corner was 12 percent higher than at Fifth Avenue and East 21st Street.
“[With] ABC Home, Restoration Hardware, Design Within Reach and Room & Board a couple of blocks away, the area has become the center for home furnishings,” Mr. Brod said. “The location matched with where they’re going with their brand.”
This will mark the second Ethan Allen store in New York City. The furniture chain has a shop at 1010 Third Avenue between East 60th and East 61st Streets.
Richard Kornblatt and David Hale of Julius M. Feinblum Real Estate represented Ethan Allen in the deal. Neither was immediately available for comment.
The Real Deal reported in September that Ethan Allen was negotiating a deal for a space in the building.
Landlord 915 Broadway Associates LLC has owned the 20-story, 250,000-square-foot building since 2012. It is nearly 100 percent leased, Mr. Brod said. In July, CO reported that Stanford, Calif.-based private research university Stanford University signed a lease for 6,000 square feet at 915 Broadway. Other tenants in the building include tech, business and design educator General Assembly and science and mathematics education nonprofit Math for America.
